By; ABDULL-AZEEZ AHMED KADIR, Kaduna.
The Wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari has commended Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) for its Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (YESAP) asserting that she was one of the pioneer trainers who trained participants in Beauty theraphy and Cosmetology.
She stated this Thursday in Kaduna at the graduation ceremony of the 7th edition of the YESAP, held at Murtala Square, Kaduna.
She stressed that most of those she trained till date maintained a contact with her, and are “standing on their feet practicing the trade and making a living out of it”.
Represented by one of the wives of Kaduna State Governor, Mrs Hadiza El-rufai, Mrs Buhari assured that the current government under the leadership of her husband would be with the youth every step of the way.
“To attest to this, just recently the cabinet comfirmed support for youth emowerment, women and yound people with disabilities by approving N500 million to support youth employment through skills acquisition via programmes such as YESAP” she noted.
She expressed pleasure over the leading role of KRPC in this direction with “fervor, seriousness and dedication to actualise self employment and empowerment of youths”.
She advocated the preparation of the youth for greater challenges by the leaders and elders by “inculcating in them, the values that form the bedrock of this nation”. Mrs Buhari reasserted her belief in the potentials, energy, inteligence, willingness to work of the Nigerian youth.
Also in his remark, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Kachala Maru, represented by Engr Anibo Kragha said a programme such as YESAP remains a sure way of tackling the unemployment menace in Nigeria.
Maru stressed that societal vices such “terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, sectarian strife and other forms of violence are attributable to unemployment or idleness”. He assured of the continues support of NNPC corporate management in sustaining the momentum of the programme.
He called on other subsidiaries of NNPC and other government agencies to emulate KRPC “by either improving on their existing vocational skills trainning programme or if they donat have one, to start it so as to truly touch the lives of the communities where they opertae and the nation at large.
